A/N: Hey, every one. I'm sorry to say that I kinda stopped working on Summer. I wrote myself into a corner and I really can't get myself out of it so I'll probably pick it up again later. Anyways. This story was originally going to be a one-shot, then it was going to be a two-shot. I guess it turned out to be a three-shot (if that's even the right name for it). Oh, and you don't have to worry about me not updating. The whole story is already finished. Anyways, read, enjoy, and REVIEW!!!! Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of his wonderful friends or evil foes. Although I wish I did.I made up the names for Hermione's parents. (if you know their real names please let me know. I do own Alex, Adrianna, Katarina, and Pricilla.

Night by the Lake

Chapter 1: Reminiscing and Rings

Ron Weasley had been planning this moment all week: the moment he would finally propose to Hermione. With constant calls to Ginny, his sister and Hermione's best friend, several trips to Diagon Alley and some other Muggle stores, he was finally ready; nervous, but ready.

At the beginning of the week he had asked for his own parents blessing to ask Hermione to marry him then apparated strait to Hermione's parents' house to request their blessing as well. That night had been the most nerve-wracking night of his life, but to say the least, it went well. He was so nervous, sitting there at the restaurant with Hermione's parents, and the expensive meals he had been saving up for, trying to make some pleasant conversation before popping the question. But he finally plucked up his courage and started, "The reason I invited the two of you to come here tonight," he paused, his nerves catching up with him, "is to ask for your blessings and your approval of my asking Hermione to be my wife." Her parents didn't answer immediately.

"You wanted to know what?" Mr. Granger asked with a strange tone in his voice.

"If I could have your… your and Mrs. Granger's blessings to ask Hermione to… to be my wife." Ron stuttered, turning pale.

"Finally!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed. "We were wondering when you were going to ask!"

"Wha… what?" Ron asked in amazement.

"We were wondering when you were going to ask!" Mrs. Granger repeated ecstatically. "You owe me five pounds, John!" she bragged.

"Faith, this is hardly the time!" Mr. Granger mumbled.

"I told you he would ask before the end of the month!"

"Faith." Mr. Granger stated a little louder.

"Oh, yes, sorry, Ronald. You see, John, here, or dad as you'll now be calling him, didn't think that you would be asking us any time soon, but I, with my woman's intuition, knew that you would be asking very, very soon. I was talking to John about this one night and he wouldn't agree with me, so we made a bet. And I won!" she explained excitedly. "Just like I always do." She added as an afterthought to her husband.

"Yes, Faith, but this surely isn't the right time to discuss such matters." Mr. Granger growled, not angrily, but trying to give his wife the hint to drop it.

"You… you were betting on when I was going to ask?"

"Yes, and I won!" Mrs. Granger said very happily still not getting the hint.

"Oh… well, is it safe to assume that I have your permission then?" Ron inquired, his nerves slowly disappearing.

"Of course, Ron! We'd be happy to have you as our son-in-law!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed.

"It would be a pleasure to have you marry our daughter." Mr. Granger replied with, what looked like, tears forming in his eyes.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Granger! This really means so much to me!" Ron said with both relief and excitement in his voice.

"Please, Sweetheart, call us Mum and Dad. You're our family now." Mrs. Granger stated kindly and Mr. Granger nodded. Ron's face lit up; he was so happy, ecstatic even, to know that Hermione's parents were more than happy to have her marry him.

Snapping out of his reminiscing, he started to get ready. Ginny and he were going to Glistening Gems, a jewelry store nearby to pick an engagement ring out for Hermione. Ron had asked Ginny to come along so that he could have some help. She was good at picking out jewelry. But, then again, she used to work part time at a jeweler's (she also was a substitute teacher in a nearby school). That was before she found out that she was pregnant. At the time, she and Harry had been married for three years. Now they have an adorable four-year-old son: Alexander James Potter. He would be coming along today.

The doorbell rang and he hopped over to the door, still trying to get his left sneaker on. Upon opening the door, he found a beautiful woman and a handsome little boy with blazing red hair. The woman had deep blue eyes and her son, a bright emerald green matching that of his father's, who was not with them, but at work.

"Hey, Ginny, thank you so, so much for coming with me today. I don't know what I would do without you." He said after finally yanking his shoe on.

"Of course, Ron, anything to help my dear, older brother." Ginny answered, playfully teasing him.

"And how's my favorite nephew?" Ron said picking up little Alex and tickling him until he was gasping for air.

"Uncwe Wonnie, I'm your onwy nephew!" he said still giggling. Which was a completely true statement. All his other brothers had little girls. Well, the ones that were married anyways. That was Bill, who had little Adriana, and Percy, who married Penelope Clearwater. They just recently had a little girl named Pricilla.

"Are you ready to go?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah." He let out a sigh." Let's get going." He said slightly nervously. He, Ginny, and little Alex left Ron's home and headed for Ron's metallic red Infiniti that he won in one of those 'fill out the paper and maybe you'll win this really cool car' things in the mall (what Ginny didn't know was that he jinxed the contest so that he would win). Ron unlocked the doors while Ginny conjured up a car seat for Alex. They all climbed into the car and started for the mall.

When they finally got there, Ron's hands were shaking so much he couldn't hold the steering wheel still. They shakily pulled into a spot in the parking lot. "You know, I knew this would happen." Ginny said pulling a potion vial out of her purse. "Here, drink this. It's a calming potion." Ron took the vial from Ginny, the vial shaking violently in his hand. He drank it and his hands, slowly but surely, stopped shaking and the butterflies in his stomach started to calm.

With his nerves finally relaxed, he, Ginny, and Alex were able to walk into the mall. "Mommy, I want to go to the toy stowe," Alex fussed "I weally wanna go, Mommy. Pweeese?"

"Honey, let's help Uncle Ronnie buy something for Hermione first. Then we can go to the toy store. Ok?" Ginny tried convincing her son.

"Ok, Mommy." He gave in after some contemplation. The family started to head over to Glistening Gems when the little boy saw a $.25 rocket ship ride. "Mommy, Mommy, Can I go to outside space?" He begged.

"What?" Ginny asked bewilderedly not noticing the rocket ship.

"Wook, Mommy, the wocket ship! Can I pweeeeese wide on the wocket ship?" Alex pleaded looking up at her with his big green eyes as he stuck out his lower lip in attempt to soften her up.

"Well, I gave Ron enough calming potion to last him a while. All right, Sweetheart, but only once. Ok?"

"Ok!" he said excitedly skipping over to the ride.

"Alex…" Ron started somewhat warningly making the little boy stop in his tracks. "What do you say to Mommy?"

"Oh, wight. Thank you, Mommy!" he said running back and kissing his mother on the cheek. Then, dashing back over to the ride and hopping on. Ginny was digging around in her purse for a quarter when she heard the ride start up. She looked up and saw her son sitting on the ride making "rocket ship noises" while the ride was moving back and forth.

"Ron, you didn't put a quarter in the ride, did you?" She asked her brother.

"No, it just kind of started up by itself!" Ron paused. "You don't think…" A look of realization spread over Ginny's face.

"Ron, Ron! He… He's showing his first signs of… of," She hesitated then whispered, "magic!" She gasped, so proud of her son. "He's… He's a little wizard!!" she breathed excitedly so that no Muggles around would hear. After about one minute, the ride stopped. Ginny picked up her son and spun him in the air. She carried Alex as she walked by the side of her brother. "I can't wait to tell Harry what Alex just did!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

They arrived at Glistening Gems and Ginny was so thankful that Ron's calming potion hadn't worn off yet. Ron paused in the archway; realization hit him. 'I'm going to propose to Hermione!' He thought. 'I'm going to ask her to be my wife!' Without his nerves, excitement filled him. He practically skipped into the store. Ginny ran to catch up with him.

"Mommy, why is Uncwe Wonnie so excited?" Alex asked curiously.

"Because," his mother explained, trying to put it simply, "Uncle Ronnie is going to ask Hermione to be your aunt."

"Ohhhhh" he dragged out happily. "So, she's going to be my Auntie Mione now?" He asked smiling.

"Yeah." Ginny answered smiling. "She is."

"Yay!!!" Alex cheered.

"Alex, I need to help Uncle Ronnie now, so, I need you to be a really good boy for Mommy. Ok?" Alex nodded.

"Ok, Mommy. I'll be a supew-good boy." He responded smiling as Ginny put him down and held his hand.

"Hello, my name is Katarina. Can I help you?" A woman standing behind the counter inquired. Ginny walked up beside her brother.

"Yeah, I'm, um, looking for some affordable-ish engagement rings." Ron answered knowing that engagement rings would be expensive.

"Ah, yes, follow me." Katarina answered walking around to the other side of the burgundy-carpeted room. "Here's where we keep our engagement rings." She explained passing her hand over the glass-cased counter that stood between them.

"Mommy, I wanna see too!" Alex whispered to his mother pulling on the hem of her shirt. Ginny picked up her son. "Oooooooo" Alex gasped looking at the sparkling rings inside the lit-up glass cases. "Mommy, they'we pwetty! Which one is Uncwe Wonnie gonna get?"

"Uncle Wonnie?" Katarina asked feeling very confused.

"Yeah." Ron replied as though it were obvious. "He's my nephew. And actually, it's Ron."

"Oh. For a while there I thought… well, never mind." She mumbled.

"Wait, you thought Ron and I are getting engaged?" Ginny asked unbelievingly.

"No, no, no, no. She's my sister. She's helping me find the right engagement ring for my girlfriend. I have no clue when it comes to jewelry. "

"And many other things." Ginny mumbled so Ron couldn't hear. Katarina laughed. She heard Ginny.

"Mommy she talks funny!" Alex giggled.

"Alex! That's not polite and you know that. Say you're sorry." Ginny scolded

"Sowwy, Miss Jewewy Wady." Alex replied shamefully.

"No, no. It's fine. I hear it a lot from children around hear." Katarina explained to Ginny. "Well, little one, the reason I talk funny is because I'm not from England. I'm from aaaallll the way across the ocean in America."

"Wow!" Alex paused and screwed up his face. "Whewe's that?" Katarina pulled out a pocket calendar with a world map from one of the cabinets under the glass cases. "You see, we're right here." She started to explain pointing to England. "I used to live aaaallllll the way over here." She pointed to where Pennsylvania is located.

"Wow! You lived faw away!" Alex marveled.

"Yeah. I did." She replied reminiscing about her home. After a few seconds she snapped back to reality. "Anyways, back to the rings." Alex and Ginny looked back down in to the case. Ron's eyes hadn't left it. There were diamond rings, emerald rings, sapphire rings, ruby rings, and lots of other rings that Ron didn't know what they were called; although, Ginny did.

After examining several different rings, Ron still hadn't found the right one. Little Alex looked into the case and found a beautiful deep blue sapphire ring with two little diamonds on the sides on a gold band.

"Mommy, I like that one!" Alex exclaimed a little too loud. Ginny clutched her ear.

"Which one?" Katarina asked.

"The bwue one wight thewe." Alex replied putting his finger's shadow over the ring. Katarina took it out and examined it.

"Yes, this is a very pretty ring. The reason it has the blue gem in the center is because the blue gem means September. If someone was born in September, then they could wear this ring. This blue gem is called a sapphire and every month has its own gem. They're called birthstones." Katarina explained.

"Ohhhh." Alex dragged out. "So… so if I was bown in Januwawy, then my biwfstone would be…"

"Garnet!" Katarina finished for him putting her finger's shadow over January's engagement ring.

"Wait" Ron shouted hurting Ginny's other ear. "Let me see the September engagement ring!" Katarina handed Ron the sapphire ring. "This is IT! This is the one!" Ron yelled once again into Ginny's ear, hurting her for the third time in the past two minutes.

"Ronald Weasley, if you don't stop yelling—" she yelled but didn't finish.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean to yell." Ron apologized. "Look, Ginny, look!" He started, his attention switching immediately back from Ginny's left ear to the engagement ring. "This is it! This is my Hermione's ring!"

"The one Alex liked" Ginny said excitedly.

"Yeah! The sa… the saf… the bwue one!" Alex stuttered out.

"How much is it?" Ron asked, afraid to hear the price.

"It's $899. But with tax it will come out to…" she took out her calculator and started pushing different keys. "$907.96"

"Yes! I still have two dollars and four cents left" Ron whooped happily.

"Engraving is free this week." Katarina added pointing to the sale sign.

"Engraving, like, I can have something written on the inside?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Yes. Would you like to have that done?" She inquired.

"Yeah, um… can it just say, 'To My 'Mione'?"

"Yes, but, I'll need you too write that down so we get everything right." Katarina explained. She handed him a small sheet of paper to write on. "Um… right… I'll need the ring size too." Ron's face paled. He had forgotten all about the ring size.

"That's where I come in." Ginny butted in happily. "My ring fits her perfectly. Whatever size this ring is, it will fit her." Ginny took off her wedding ring and handed it to Katarina. Katarina wrote down the ring size above the engraving phrase.

"Your ring will be ready in about half-an-hour." Katarina finished cheerfully.

"Mommy, can we go to the toy stowe now?" Alex whispered into his mother's ear.

"Yes, we can go to the toy store now." Katarina handed Ron a small square pager that would vibrate, flash, and beep when the ring was done and they were off to the toy store. Ginny bought Alex a little toy car as a congratulations for showing his first sign of magic.

Eventually, the pager went off and they went back to the store. "It's beautiful!" Ginny gasped in amazement looking at the final product. Ron took out the ring from its blue velvet box and examined it.

"It's weally pwetty and I picked it!" Alex exclaimed proudly, bouncing in his mother's arms.

"It's perfect." Ron whispered, thinking of how much better the ring would look once it was on Hermione's finger. Ron paid Katarina and the family left the mall happily. On the way home, they stopped at Wendy's for dinner and Dairy Queen for Dessert. When they returned to Ron's, little Alex was out like a light.

"Ron, you may need these tomorrow." Ginny sniggered handing him three more vials of calming potion.

"Thanks, Ginny. I'll see you soon."

"At the engagement party you mean?" Ginny asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah… Well, if she says yes." Ron sighed.

"Of course she will. Don't worry." Ginny comforted her brother.

"I'll try."

"You'll be fine. Get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah, Good night. Say hi to Harry for me."

"I will. Good night." Ginny replied, still smiling. And with that, Ginny Apparated with Alex in her arms and Ron continued to finalize his romantic plans for his proposal tomorrow.

A/N: I really hope you guys liked this. Please please please review and let me know what you think. I'll give you all delicious cookies!!! BTW: what's your favorite cookie?